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Is everything made in China?

7K views 59 replies 50 participants last post by  MEWERT 
#1 ·
Got around to taking a close peek at my pocketknives... They all say China!

I must be naive... Didn't realize so much was made in China

Are there any USA companies that make a folder here in the US?

 
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#33 ·
Its harder and harder to find made in the USA, Bench-made OR, I like SOG but Japan made steel assembled in WA state,the knife roll is full of Old timers, Uncle Henry, old USA made bucks. But I don't carry any of them for day to day use.I have one Kershaw from back in the day when they were made in Wilsonvill OR. I almost forgot about Case like them as well good steel hold a edge, US made.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I've got a drawer full of cheap chinese folders. I only remember buying a couple of them, most were gifts or just accumulated through the years. A few lay around my shop just for cutting tape and such light duty. In my pocket, bail-out bag, or hunting day-pack you would find only American made Buck or Schrade knives. I will admit my little SOG Twitch II assisted opening folder has become a favorite everyday walkin' around knife.
The little fixed-blade skinner in my avatar is a Parker-Edwards made in Alabama, USA. I found it in a Service Merchandise store in the early 1990's for $15.00. The sheath was plain black leather. A friend who was an Army LRRP in Vietnam (sadly no longer with us) stitched on the skin of an Eastern Diamondback rattler to dress it up a bit.
 
#36 ·
been thinking about it and there's at least one pretty bad politician who's not from China, but nobody's sure where he's from. wherever it is, hoping he'll go back next year, but he'll probably snooker us real citizens into paying for and moving him into some multi million dollar castle in Hawaii.
 
#38 ·
All my kitchen knives are German. Solingen steel is hard to beat, although the top Japanese chef knives hold their own with anybody.
Most of my fixed tactical knives are US made, the rest are good Japanese.
While I own several good US and Japanese tactical folders, most of the ones I am actually likely to carry are Chinese, because I consider them borderline disposable.

I try not to send any more money to China than I have to. I do look at labels.
 
#40 ·
Currently looking at a few CA legal auto knives that I may buy and are all made in China. They could be made on Mars for all I care as long as they work as advertised.
 
#41 ·
As mentioned, Benchmade are US made. Some Spyderco and Kershaw knives, too. There are many small cutlery shops that make hand made knives, mostly straight knives. L. T. Wright, Battle Horse Knives, Hess Knives, and Lon Humphrey's to name a few.
For more traditional slip joint folders there is Great Eastern Cutlery and Queen Cutlery.
 
#45 ·
You get what you pay for. Many of the knife companies have found some of the proprietary steel blades can be purchased only from Japan. A good example is the SOG FatCat -- the blade is VG-10 and comes from Seki, Japan. Some of the cheaper SOG folders are made in the USA.
 
#48 ·
We live in global economy and that's all there is to it. I'm always amused at people who will turn their nose up at a Chinese made product but will accept an inferior U.S.A. made product at a higher price just because it's made in America.

The Chinese will make products to whatever specifications you want. From low quality and cheap to high quality and expensive. The market will dictate what gets made and sold.

This fixation about where something is made is a bit myopic. There's a reason that Chinese made products are SOLD in America and that's because America provides a vast market for those products.

As for American made being good for U.S. workers, that's no longer true on it's face. America may have lost manufacturing power but we are still able to purchase foreign made goods because our economy has shifted away from manufacturing. If we weren't able to afford foreign made goods I would be worried.

Other countries make products for the American market because the American market is huge.

Not everything foreign is bad. Look at German cars, firearms and optics. Look at Japanese cars, trucks, knives and electronics. Look at Swiss watches. How about Canadian or Brazilian aircraft? How about South Korean steel, ships, shipping containers, cars and tractors?
And it's not just America; Seiko is a Japanese company but a huge number of Seiko watches are now made in Malaysia. Even Japan outsources some of their manufacturing.

Adapt or Die.
 
#53 ·
Most major knife companies, even ones based in the US (Kershaw, Gerber, etc.) produce at least some of their line in China (or abroad). It's simple economics, and when one company builds at lower cost the only way to compete is to do the same. One company, Benchmade, produces all of it's name blades in Oregon. They used to have a cheaper Benchmade Red Class that was made in another country, but they have discontinued it. Note however that Benchmades are considerably more expensive than other name brands (Spyderco etc.) for that very reason. Additionally, Benchmade does have the H&K brand of knives under it's control and those are made in China.

Certainly some companies like Spyderco have certain models made in the US, but don't expect it unless you pay at least $150. Or you can go custom knife maker like Chris Reeve but you'll also be paying a pretty penny.
 
#56 ·
I'm a little wary of B&S and not just because of their initials. I guess I should't say wary, but rather concerned they're being untruthful. Looking at their website they make a big point to say they're 100% made in USA and that they don't just assemble here with foreign materials and stamp their name on it. But then they contradict themselves when you look at the materials they use, particularly where they say they use Sandvik steel, which is Swedish and they have a disclaimer that "we only used this this year on X knives". I guess my point is, is that they are starting to move abroad. Pretty soon they'll be importing all of their materials and assembling them in the US, followed by Made in China. Hopefully I'm wrong, but they are not going to turn a profit selling $20 old timers.
 
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